Northern Azure user group June 2025 Meetup

Its the NAUG June Meetup already and we are hosted as usual by ECOM at their office in Manchester City Centre.

This month we will be going all in with AI with two awesome talks to understand and build a knowledge of AI!

Meetup location what3words:///daisy.coffee.awards

Session Details

Session 1 - Sergio Sisternes - Vibe Coding

Session description
In Generative AI, context is king. Model Context Protocol (MCP) is the new kid on the block, helping Agents to have a standardised way to access external sources during content generation, enhancing its context.

Do you want to know how to supercharge GitHub Copilot's context with Agent Mode and MCP, improving its accuracy and boosting your vibe coding productivity?

In this session you will learn to:

📈 Explore how GitHub Copilot has evolved from Ask, to Edit, to Agents
🔍 What are the differences between the different capabilities
💪 What is the state of the possible with Copilot Agent Mode + MCP
🚀 How can you also get started with it to get in the flow, vibe coding more safely.

About Sergio - Sergio Sisternes is the Head of Microsoft Azure UK&I at EPAM. With more than 15 years of experience, Sergio has always been linked with Microsoft technologies in different capacities: Software Engineer, Architect and Technology Solutions Senior Director.

Session 2 - Adedeji Awolesi - Introduction to Azure AI Foundry

Session description
In this session, I will talk about what Azure AI Foundry is, why it matters, look at how it brings different tools (Azure Machine Learning, Cognitive Services, OpenAI etc) streamlined into one platform, see how we can build intelligent apps using pre-built models or your own data and get some tips on how to start experimenting with AI using Azure’s free tiers and learning resources.

About Adedeji - Adedeji is Snr SRE Engineer at SS&C Blue Prism with focus on Microsoft Azure Infrastructure. Adedeji is also a Microsoft MVP in Azure. With over 12 years working in IT, Adedeji has strong experience in Service management, DevOps, FinOps, Consultancy and high community engagement rate on different Platforms. Adedeji is also a public speaker, blogger and loves watching football.

Agenda:
5:30 - 6:30 - Welcome & networking
6:30 - 7:15 - Sergio Sisternes - Vibe Coding
7:15 - 7:45 - Food, drinks and networking
7:45 - 8:30 - Adedeji Awolesi - Introduction to Azure AI Foundry
8:30-whenever - Drinks and networking

Location Details
what3words:///daisy.coffee.awards
Address:18 Lower Byrom St, Manchester M3 4AP.

ECOM are based in a renovated space called the Bonded Warehouse which sits on the same site as the Old-Granada studio tour.

The entrance to the bonded warehouse can be reached from Lower Byrom street just next to the Museum of Science and Industry, the building entrance is on the right hand side across from the crystal maze. Google and apple maps may attempt to direct you to the rear of the building, if in doubt use the what3words location and look for the Crystal Maze too.

what3words:///daisy.coffee.awards